The Sunshine
by LycoX
Summary: Maya's artistic side comes out a little while after getting home from the Matthews' at the end of Forgiveness.


**The Sunshine**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. I got to thinking about this earlier at work and I wish I had thought about it sooner. This is set after Girl Meets Forgiveness.**

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After she got home from the Matthews place, Maya honestly felt drained after the emotional moment she had at Topanga's bakery but something compelled her to get her art supplies out and just start creating a new piece after changing into something she didn't mind getting ruined. A piece that took a good bit of the night to do and allowed her to put everything into it that she'd been feeling after today. Along with every other thing going on in her life as well, such as her friendship with Riley and the friendships she has with Farkle, Lucas, and Zay and how she views them and other figures in her life. It also allowed her to reflect a little on any feelings she has for the Huckleberry and how he basically helped encourage her to reach out to her dad and not being pushy about it like Riley might have been had she gotten an inch. She loved that girl but not everything could be fixed. The feelings for Lucas was something she wanted to deny but it was hard when the guy himself was pretty much like an equal with her. But hey, at least any feelings she has for Uncle Boing didn't have to be hid so that was something at least.

Even if Riley's uncle was unlikely to see her as anything more for a good while but hey things could happen so who knows. That might have been hopeful of her but she didn't care in this instance for the moment. She had honestly thought this was the one lesson Mr. Matthews had failed with, especially where she was concerned but that he had wanted her to find forgiveness in herself had been a huge surprise that she hadn't been expecting at all. Did she forgive herself? She felt that she did, especially after learning the truth from dear old dad that it hadn't been anything she did and the anger she had in herself had just died after learning the truth. Maya honestly didn't even remember the last time she cried that hard and it'd just been draining on her.

But at least now she felt like she could move on and perhaps actually be happy and maybe hope even more the little she did currently. Especially where her mom and Shawn were concerned. A part of the artist had wished Shawn had been here for this whole thing but then she was glad he wasn't as this had helped her to grow some. Though she would call him up soon to see what he thought of the whole thing and had an inkling he'd be proud of her, course knowing Mr. Matthews he likely already had made a call to the guy and were having some hours long moment over the whole thing. And after witnessing how those two could get around one another it made the girl think that Mrs. Matthews was a freaking saint for being able to put up with it!

And after five hours of painting, young Maya Penelope Hart felt like she was finished with her latest piece that she'd put everything into and smiled at it. It was then that a flyer for an art show on Saturday caught her eye and she looked at it for a few minutes debating something before finally deciding that she would take a chance and show the new piece there. _Heh, Riles would be proud._ It was a big move for her but she honestly didn't mind it as she was the one making the decision to do it this time.

 **Saturday Afternoon**

The sight of one Shawn Hunter at the front door of the Hart apartment honestly surprised Katy Hart as he hadn't mentioned being near the area the night before. And after a very pleasant hug and kiss between them, she asked what she owed the pleasant suprise of his visit too. "Cory called me last night and told me about what happened with Maya and her dad. I know I could have called and talked to her about it but I felt this was better." Katy couldn't help but smile at the man she was falling for being so concerned and caring about her daughter and wondered again what life might have been like if he'd truly been Maya's father.

"Well I'm sure she'll like that very much Mr. Shawn but for the life of me I can't seem to get her up out of that bed of hers to watch this art show with me." And she figured her daugher would love it too!

"Maybe some help from me would get that going then Ms. Katy." He told her with a smile and loving the byplay that had developed between the two of them over time and he had a pretty good feeling she was feeling the same way too.

"Have at it then, and maybe if she doesn't get up then… Maybe you and I could… Watch it together on our own?"

Shawn couldn't help the huge smile he got then at the idea of spending a little alone time with Katy, though maybe while he was in the area they could definitely do that before he gets back on the road if Maya decides to join them. Katy then made a little 'after you' motion and he did so with a chuckle and as he walked towards Maya's bedroom door, he stopped suddenly when the voice of the very person's door he was headed too could then be heard. Turning around with a confused look and seeing that Katy had her attention on the tv, he went over to it to see what was going on and to his complete surprise it was Maya herself! "Huh, well now we know why she wasn't answering." Commented Shawn and Katy could only nod at that as she was honestly surprised as heck by the whole thing!

" _This is quite the painting here Ms. Hart, what can you tell us about it?_ "

Katy could hardly believe her little girl was doing this and the art her daughter had recently done was just mind blowing. "My little girl's got one heck of a talent."

"That she does!" Replied Shawn and it made him wonder what it'd be like if she did an assignment with him using her art skills instead of photography.

" _This was something I made in the span of five hours last night after a pretty emotionally draining day. The dark side you see here to the left represents storm clouds and a lack of sunshine with little to no hope and a lot of anger. The woman you see half of is used to represent a thought I used to have about my mom and the back of the man you see a bit from her is about my dad who walked away from us. The girl on the road represents me and the steps she's taking is away from the cloudy darkness and into the sunlight._ " Here she paused for a few moments before continuing again and if the two adults weren't mistaken, she definitely had quite a bit of attention on her and her breath taking painting.

" _Everything where the sunlight is represents happiness, no dark stormy clouds, hope, a full mom, and a lot of people that care. My best friend Riley, who is like the Sun with rays of happiness and hope shining down on you. I used an equation to represent our friend Farkle_ _and a mad dog to represent our friend Lucas, and tap dancing shoes for another friend named Zay. They matter a lot to me, more then they probably realize._ "

Katy was tearing up and Shawn held her close to him as Maya paused again to get a hold of herself before her emotions got the best of her. " _That teacher's table represents the best teacher I know while that dinner table represents his wife and the home they've been willing to welcome me into, the little bear is a boy named Auggie, and the camera is a guy who if life were different would be my dad. Course… I probably could still call him dad one day anyway._ " She said with a chuckle with tears glistening in her eyes and Shawn would be more than happy to be known as her dad and Katy wouldn't mind that either if she was being honest.

The interviewer had a wide smile on his face as it wasn't often he came across young talent like Maya Hart and he absolutely looked forward to seeing what the girl would do next in the future. " _Miss Hart, I thank you for being so willing to share something so personal and deep with us this day. I truly look forward to seeing more work from you in the future._ "

That got a beaming smile from Maya in response and a happy thanks too. Shawn then got the idea that maybe they should go and see her and Katy was all for that idea since she knew where the area was that the event was being held at. When Lucas eventually learned of what Maya saw him as in her painting, he felt touched by that and amazed that she accurately got him. Plus he loved the fact she recalled his wanting to be known as Mad Dog and did a little teasing over it with her. Zay was amused that she saw him as a pair of tap dancing shoes and Farkle and Riley gave her a pretty big hug! Cory and Topanga would also give her a big hug too for her way of seeing them. Katy and Shawn would have a talk with her about when she felt okay with it, that the good Hunter would be happy with her calling him dad.

He'd even talk his bosses at Hit The Road into allowing her to use her art skills on an assignment and it'd be the most viewed article to date in the aftermath as well. Something she was amazed by but incredibly happy about and it gave her a bit more hope for her future.

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 **Author's Notes: Hope those that read this will have enjoyed it. Gotta love when inspiration strikes!**


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